An illustration of Europe's satellite navigation system, Galileo

On 25 October 2010, the development of Galileo, the future European satellite navigation system, reached another important milestone. In Brussels, the European Space Agency and Spaceopal GmbH signed a contract for the operation of 18 Galileo satellites. Spaceopal is a joint venture between the DLR Space Applications Company (GfR) and the Italian company Telespazio.